


we're all just stories

by snowandfire



Series: moon anon stories [1]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Childhood Memories, Family feelings, Gen, Wholesome, baby bolin, baby mako, mako is a good big brother, moon anon content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:14:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27159151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowandfire/pseuds/snowandfire
Summary: mako tells his little brother a bedtime story about the last airbending avatar
Relationships: Bolin & Mako (Avatar)
Series: moon anon stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1982419
Comments: 2
Kudos: 46





	we're all just stories

**Author's Note:**

> this fic was sent to me (@bluberry-spicehead) paragraph by paragraph by an anonymous author who has asked to be credited as '🌑'  
> they are the true author of this fic, not me, snowandfire
> 
> to 🌑 anon, thank you

"Will you tell me a story, Mako?"

The cold had settled into Republic City earlier than usual that year, and already the streets whistled with biting winds as the sun set and the day turned dark. Mako pulled his large, ratted coat tighter around him, holding out a hand to let a flickering flame dance along his fingertips. He wasn't scared of the fire now like he used to be, but he was sure to keep the flame small just in case.

"Sure, Bo. Which one do you wanna hear?"

The small boy scrunched his round face up in thought, button nose rosy from the cold.

"Tell me about the war again. About the Avatar."

Mako sighed. The Hundred Year War was one of the last things he'd learned about before he'd stopped going to school, and their parents had told them what they'd heard from  _ their _ parents and grandparents about it often. The legend was one of Bolin's favorite stories to hear. Why, Mako didn't know. It wasn't a pretty story, but he guessed Bolin liked the dramatic heroics of it. Bolin, who'd played pirates on the furniture in their tiny apartment when he was only four, pretending the old, warped floor was a vast ocean. Bolin, whose little eyes went as wide as saucers the first time he found out he could bend Earth. Bolin, who still asked excitedly if they could go watch Pro-Bending matches, even though he knew perfectly well they didn't have enough yuans for hot food, let alone a seat in the golden arena.

But Mako was his older brother, and he'd told his parents he would look out for him. And that meant telling him stories to help him sleep at night when his stomach was empty and his fingertips were freezing.

"Okay, Bo." Mako switched the flame to his other hand, settling an arm around his brother.

"A long time ago, before you or me or Mom or Dad was born, the Avatar was missing. No one had seen him in almost a hundred years, and most of the world thought he was dead."

"But he wasn't! He was just in the iceberg!" Bolin interrupted excitedly.

Mako gave him a look. "You gonna let me tell the story or not, Bolin?"

Bolin looked sheepish. "You tell it."

"Okay. Anyway. The Avatar was missing, but even though a lot of people thought he was dead, he wasn't. And then, one day, two kids-- who were only a couple of years older than you and me-- found a giant iceberg, and it cracked open, and inside was an Airbender, the last of the Airbenders, and he was the Avatar."

"But he didn't know any of the other elements yet, did he Mako?"

"Nope. So he and the two kids, Sokka and Katara, decided to fly all the way to the North Pole on his sky bison, since Katara was the only Waterbender left in the Southern Water Tribe and she didn't know much about Waterbending..."

Mako was about a quarter of the way through the story when Bolin's eyes were getting heavy and he started to nod off against Mako's shoulder. Mako stopped mid-sentence, looking down at his little brother beside him.

"Are you sure you want me to keep going, Bo? We can always finish the story tomorrow night..."

"No! No!" Bolin shook himself awake, sitting up, eyes glinting. "We haven't gotten to the best part yet! You can't stop before we get to the best part, Mako!"

Mako chuckled. He knew exactly what ‘best part’ Bolin was referring to.

"Alright, okay. We'll get to the best part, and then we'll stop until tomorrow. Deal?"

Bolin nodded readily. "Deal!"

"Okay, then. So anyway, the Avatar was getting pretty great at Waterbending, and he really needed a Earthbending master. But after their trouble at Omashu, King Bumi had told him that he would need to find a special teacher, one who waited and listened. So they traveled the Earth Kingdom, and after seeing a vision in a swamp, they went looking for a girl with a winged boar, which just so happened to be the symbol of a very important Earth Kingdom family."

"The Beifongs!" Bolin exclaimed, and Mako laughed.

"Yup. But they didn't know that yet."

"Nope! So they went to the underground Earthbending match! Like pro-bending, but only Earthbending, and kinda secret." Bolin said with a very serious expression, tone low. They'd both heard this part of the story many times before, and Bolin always made sure it was told with the utmost care.

"So they went to the Earthbending match, and there the Avatar found an Earthbender unlike any other, one who waited and listened, just like Bumi had told him to find. And he realised that she was the girl from the vision in the swamp, and knew that she had to be his master, but before he could ask her to teach him she disappeared. All he knew was that she was called--"

"-- _ The Blind Bandit _ !" Bolin gasped, eyes wide.

"The Blind Bandit, yes. But then they found out that the winged boar from the vision was the symbol of the Beifong family, and they found out that the Blind Bandit was actually Toph Beifong, who everyone thought was little and helpless, but was actually the greatest Earthbender in the world."

"And then she ran away with them and taught the Avatar Earthbending!" Bolin interjected, and Mako frowned.

"Well, some other stuff happened too, but yeah, basically."

"And then she invented metalbending!" Bolin exclaimed, grinning, and Mako sighed.

"Well, okay, a LOT of other stuff happened before that, but yes, then she invented metalbending." Mako smiled despite himself. It was cold, and it was dark, and he was tired, but Bolin was happy, and that was what mattered.

"Okay, do you want me to keep going, or are we done for tonight?" He asked. Bolin idolised Toph Beifong, and her introduction (and the invention of metalbending) was always his favorite part of the tale.

"We can be done. I'm really tired." Bolin yawned, cuddling closer to his older brother. Mako tucked the large coat around them both and closed his fist, snuffing out the little flame. In the darkness, he laid his head on Bolin's that rested on his shoulder.

When he was sure his brother's breath was even with sleep, he closed his eyes.

"I love you," he whispered, breath floating on the midnight air. And even though Bolin didn't answer, he knew he loved him back.


End file.
